Netjets Interview
 

Hello again guys!

Just wanted to ask if anyone that has been through the interview process with NJ wouldn’t mind chiming in about how it was and what kind of questions to expect for each phase.
I’ve been reviewing the gouge online, but just wanted to see if there are any recent experiences.
Thanks!

I know it’s not a direct answer to your question, but if you didn’t already know about it Aviationinterviews.com has fairly consistent updates, with the latest from QS being from earlier this month.

I'd skip NetJets, old games by management are returning, the new contract "shine" is wearing off. The preach one thing in indoctrination and practice another on the line, got more than one phone call for fatiguing after multi 3 AM walkup 14 hour days and calling in sick. IUf you military avoid this place! Buyer be ware!

The old games are always possible, but so far have really only been only played on probationary pilots and few of those at that. I don't think it is really something the vast majority of new hires will have to worry about. I'm not saying some haven't been screwed over, but that if NetJets is what someone wants, it isn't a particularly great reason to go somewhere else. That said, most ex military are probably a good bet to get on with a major airline and that is most likely a much better option anyway for the majority of pilots overall.

If I were going to choose a place to work in the current pilot environment, NetJets would be pretty far down my list, behind most good airlines due to the career pay and retirement plans available elsewhere. It isn't a bad job and is most likely the top of the heap outside of the majors, but it isn't as easy a job as most airlines- you will work hard for the money for the most part and it is impossible to save as much for retirement as the B plans at the majors. I have no plans on leaving due to my personal situation, but I personally wouldn't make a go of it here if I was starting a career now and could get hired at the majors in the next 5 years or so.

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Well said. Having worked at both NJA and a major, it’s been enlightening to see both sides and compare. I would only go back to NJA if for some reason I had no shot at another airline. It’s pretty stable although I argue that there are some instabilities of fractional ownership. As far as private jets go, outside of the unicorn part 91 jobs, you won’t get the type of career anywhere else that you’ll get at NJA. The million dollar conundrum is why choose NJA as a career. Personal situations, hatred for the airlines, base flexibility etc are all reasons they sway ones decision to make a career of NJA.

NJA has is share of shinanigans but if you keep your nose clean, especially the first year, you will be fine.

My big fear for anyone choosing a career there is the pay changes that incentivize flying tired. I wonder what that is going to look like from a work culture standpoint in the years going forward.

you are so so funny. unfortunately, whether you originally, maybe tried to be honest in your posts, you have lost so much credibility by now, it's hard to watch you keep on coming back on here with that bitter, angry, vengeful attitude.

New contract shine doin' real good. QOL is as expected, soft pay is surprisingly on par, and more than promised. been flying with a couple ex Navy and AF guys who love it. Also recently met a new hire, retired AF guy who's loving it, about a year in.

For sure, not everyone is made for this job. To each his own.

Glad your happy! I agree job is not for everyone, my only point was for guys on probation we (more than 3 or 4) got phone calls for practicing what they preached in Indoctrination. Was very unsettling. I was to stupid to realize these were not welfare calls as described but shots across the bow!

When I was actively flying as a NetJet's Captain all the probationary F/O would have needed to do is ask and I would have called in fatigued for them. Especially with what's happening lately. I think many PIC's would do this. Only problem is the SIC could be split off and sent to another jet that same day.

And there in lies the sad cultural environment at NJA. You have to have a captain ask fo fatigue for you for fear of being fired...

I’ve said it more than once. AIR21 filing and it will stop. NJA has lost every single AIR 21 case against them, they would lose that one too.

True, 100%

From cheerleader to getting canned. Way more to that story.l than you are telling.

For the record I did not get canned! Left for practicing what they preached in indoc, It did appreciate the severance package and continued benefits.

YA I should have done that! I was to much of a cool-aid drinker to realize a call from the "fleet-manager" while on probation was not a well being call as it was sold but a warning. Let me be clear I loved working at NJA but got a bitter taste in my mouth being called to Columbus last week of probation to talk about a sick call and fatigue calll that occurred 7 month earlier! Felt pretty used and left with a few benefits!!

Not true. They have won quite a few and were able to get an agreement on others that were then dropped which you could surmise to mean something. But outright losing a case is few and far between.

As for probation, legacy carriers practice the same. Or at least pilots I have run into who left during probation said it was the company's fault. On probation you have to be very careful.

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Ehh, I have called in sick and fatigued on probation as needed. Don't be crappy about it and you will be fine if the company culture doesn't suck.

I have a friend that was on probation at American and he had called in sick a few times on probation and got a call from the Chief Pilot over it. Nothing happened but to say he wasn't very concerned is an understatement.

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I can tell you being involved with ALPA, that all he did was merely show red on an Excel spreadsheet which triggers a call. Every airline has their threshold and if you trigger it at my airline, you simply get a required phone call from the CP as its s required, nothing more.

Now if you sick out, then post on FB about how you are at a baseball game drunk, that's a different story.


For any company to expect you to not get sick for an entire year, or fatigue if something happens, is completely unrealistic.

The bold part in MinRest's post is what every new hire at every company needs to understand. You are on probation, don't stick out and you will skate through probation. Wether it is right or wrong, people that stick out tend to have people taking a closer look at them to decide "is this somebody we want to employ for 10,20,30 years?"

I think that is bad advice. You are a professional pilot, It is YOUR job to self check and make sure you are fit to fly. DO NOT GO TO WORK IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO PERFORM YOUR JOB. If you have to be worried about your career because you are dying at home and don't want to call out sick, don't work there.

That’s not what I was trying to point out. Don’t try to bend the rules or work loopholes when you are on probation. That is how you stick out. If you are sick, don’t come to work. If you are tired, fatigue. Using those provisions for anything other than you being sick or fatigued is to roll the dice on you making it through probation.

Calling in sick or fatiguing is not bending rules or exploiting loopholes. I’ll add that fatiguing or casing in sick when you are neither of those things, is a roll of the dice whether you’re on probation or not.

Correct, calling in sick and/or fatiguing is not bending the rules, as long as you are sick or fatigued.

Could not agree more, I did 27 years in Air Force as a C-5 Pilot, never got called out for judgment as an A/C with over 5000 hr s in command, to get second guessed on 3 sick calls with three kids under 10 in the house was pretty undignified in my opinion! That said it was a nice they gave men some candy leaving!

At NJA if your on fProbation buy the captain a few drinks to call out for you! LESSON LEARNED!

So you were given the option of resigning versus getting canned? You wanted to spend more time with your young family?

I am not defending NJA but something here is a little....off? If you sick calls and fatigues were legit, pursue it. File a complaint. All because you were not afforded the protection of the union does not mean you don't have recourse. If you feel strongly about your...whatever you want to call it....then pursue it.

I will say...those that leave NJA usually leave with a record of their existence here....good or bad. A few on here...that post, have that record and it's not good. People know who they are....just like people know who you are. It's a small community.

I got a new job pretty quickly so I am not that worried about it, but I do want people to know the truth about NJA when your on probation. Other guys didn't even get to go to Columbus, just saw "reserve from home" on last week of probation and got a call to say "good bye" My point being my kids get sick from school and it runs through the house, I tried to do the right thing and called in sick when I got sick from them, my issue is they had an issue 6-7 months earlier but let me fly till end of probation till they wanted to talk about it, found it to be total BS! No training issues, so I thank them for the A680 type.

Probation is just as it states, they can get rid of you for any reason. Do you think they say it is because of sick calls? No, they are smart enough not to do this. It is no different then working in a "right to work" state. They can fire you for anything. Even off probation they track sick calls and people have been called over them. The company tracks everything and has a very good track record of looking for patterns that stand out. Sometimes it is over nothing, but it can happen. Unfortunately we have some that never call in sick and rather then address this, they look at those that have a high number. With that said, off probation I am unaware of anything happening to someone who calls in sick a lot other then to let them know the company is aware of this. Just don't post on Facebook your on vacation after you called in sick which some have done.

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Agreed. Whether at NetJets or a legacy, be very careful about calling in sick, fatigue or any other behavior that may attract attention while on probation. Fair? No. But, this is the way the world works. You will not get effective union representation during probation and you are an at will employee.

A company can terminate you for any reason during probation (aside from those reasons protected by law), heck they don't need to even give a reason. I have seen this, even at corporations with good reputations. On the flip side, you can sue them for any reason for damage to your career. They can be held liable. I know of some that have been successful, but it's definitely an uphill road, expensive and a lot of stress and drama.

Keep your nose clean until you start paying union dues. You really don't have a choice. It's a shame, but this is the way of the world.

Again, I think this is advice from a by gone era. But it wouldn't be the first time NJA bites the hand that feeds them with regard to hiring. NJA is already desperate for new hires looking ahead and it is only going to get worse. NJA lower management is merely creating more work for the hiring department and creating a bad stigma and rep for NJA by forcing people out before their probation is up for sick and fatigue calls. Not saying that is happening in high numbers or is the norm, but is sad if that is what is going on. No legacy is going to hire you, then fire you at the end of the tear for a couple of sick calls in 2020, I can promise you that.

Paying union dues isn't a get out of jail free card. Your behavior before and after probation can easily get you canned. Ask some of the 15+ year NJA guys who were fired for doing dumb stuff.

It seems that very few are getting fired as the company is now offering them a chance to resign. There are benefits to resigning and some of the most egregious ones have taken it. It is win win for both sides.

One thing about probation is you are still part of and represented by the union. The only thing about probation is you are not eligible for the grievance process. So if let go, you are on your own. In the past the company would terminate you if they felt you were a bad fit. Now they offer a severance. If you think you are being wronged, don't take it and fight it. The good thing about this hiring market is that you can take the severance and find another job. Win win for everyone.

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at any airlines, calling in sick or fatigue, when you are not, for personal reasons other than being sick or fatigued, is bending the rules.
Some airlines even have a limit of occurence per year in order to limit that kind of abuse. There are airlines where your fatigue call is an occurence until it is accepted/approved by management as fatigue.

Yes, "fatiguing or casing in sick when you are neither of those things, is a roll of the dice whether you’re on probation or not." but when you are on probation, wherever you are, your union can't do much to defend you.

I had a co-worker who had a twin brother at Northwest who said calling in sick was the worst. The next day you had a Fed Ex package sent to you mandating medical documentation. He said the best thing with the merger with Delta is this went away.

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If you are sick, call in sick, period. I am not advocating that you can use sick time when you are not sick. You earn sick time for a reason. If you have sick time and you are sick, use it. End of story. If you call in sick once or twice a month, whether you are on probation or not you will be called in.

That is when you include a receipt for NyQuil and call it a day.

Absolutely agree with that.

Phone interview is coming up, is it mostly HR questions? Any technical questions? Thanks

Does NJ pay per diem during training?

24/7 per diem, single occupancy hotel and you share a rental car.

super!

Thank you for the quick response.

Do new hires typically allocate 50 / 50 to Roth vs traditional IRA or.....
Has some nerd done the math and come up with a formula?